a bleeding purple utah jazz blog

Training Camp Quotes: December 10-13

** Of course I want an important role on the team, but whatever Ty want me to do, I do. — Derrick Favors (KALL)

** When I start first playing basketball, I was watching [Memo] and just because of that, I was always a Utah Jazz fan…He’s helping me a lot on the court, off the court. He’s always telling me, “If you don’t understand anything, you can ask me all the time.” I think it’s great. [also, that Al has been really helpful] — Enes Kanter (KALL)

** O’Connor has no doubts that player development manager Mike Sanders can coach the Jazz’s young big men. O’Connor wondered why anyone would think you have to be tall to be a good big-man coach in the NBA. Sanders played center at times at UCLA and, as a player, worked his way through the NBA. He can coach anyone, O’Connor said. — (Trib)

Um…KOC actually made my confidence go down with that (“Sanders played center at times at UCLA”).

** Most definitely. Make us stay on our toes, you know I’m sayin? Like I said, my young fella [Kanter], he go after every offensive rebound. I can’t take no breaks when I’m guarding him, and that gon make me better. And I know I’m making him better, so you never too old to learn something from a young guy. — Al Jefferson on whether the young guys’ energy helps the veterans (KALL)

** It’s not a rush. We’ll feel our guys, see which combination we feel is going to give us the best chance to advance faster. We want to make sure our guys understand the importance of winning and not just who’s getting the start and who’s coming off the bench. — Ty Corbin on setting rotations (KALL)

** I will go on the record right now in front of God and everybody. He is the most explosive, the most athletic overall, the strongest and most stable from foot to head than he’s ever been, and with the lowest body fat ever. If he doesn’t have his best season ever … I will be shocked. — Jazz strength and conditioning coach Mark McKown on Al Jefferson (AP)

** The first time we were at Phoenix and Steve Nash was out there, he was someone that I really looked up to and so that was different and weird. I like posted him up one time and he flopped on me so I was mad at him a little bit. — Gordon Hayward (KFAN)

**Unintentional Dirty Quote Machine
–This entire conversation with Ty Corbin:Media: You said you were excited to watch the big guys go at each other.Corbin: Oh yeah.Media: Has it been fun so far?Corbin: It really has.Media: Did you do your first five-on-five last night?Corbin: Yes. Uh, not the first five-on-five. We actually started the first day because we only did one on Friday, had some little freak play, did some up and down, just trying to get the guys get some rust off, and then last night we had the opportunity to do it with some referees.

–Later on in the conversation:Ty on Devin Harris: His speed is starting to show nice. He get comfortable with himself and the guys get comfortable with his speed.Ty on Harris again: A guy that good will figure out how to get himself off.Ty on Favors (potentially playing more minutes): It be huge. It be huge. Because he’s such a young guy, he can recover fast. (KALL)

Finally, all the best to Ronnie Price. Class act, Laker hater, dunked on Boozer, class act.